Dedem, an Italian leisure and photo-booth operator, has completed a EUR 44m refinancing with six Italian banks, extending its maturities to 2032, CEO Alberto Rizzi told this news service.

On 20 November, the company signed a comprehensive financing and investment support package with BNL, BNP Paribas, Banco BPM, ICCREA-BCC, Intesa Sanpaolo, and UniCredit. Intesa Sanpaolo acted as global coordinator, and UniCredit served as the agent bank, he said.

The operation was necessary to consolidate and streamline the company’s existing financing, Rizzi explained. Dedem had recorded approximately EUR 21m–EUR 22m in debt on its balance sheet in 2024, stemming from 31 separate financing agreements opened between 2020 and 2023 to support growth following the COVID-19 period, he said.

No external advisors were involved in this transaction, the CEO said, adding that this deal was led by the company’s CFO Paolo Monte.

“We approached all the banks with whom we had active loans to execute this operation. We extinguished all previous debt and refinanced the company, gaining credibility and financial solidity,” Rizzi said.

The CEO highlighted significant financial and operational improvements, including a “beneficial reduction in the overall average interest rate” and a vast simplification of reporting, which is now “100 times leaner.”

The new EUR 44m facility is structured to cover both debt refinancing and strategic investment, he said, noting that EUR 25m will be used to refinance all existing debt, and EUR 15m will be available for drawdown over the next two years for expansion in Italy and abroad. The further EUR 4m will play as a short-term line to support general financial needs and circulating capital flexibility across all group subsidiaries, Rizzi said.

Rizzi noted that combining the EUR 10m proceeds from its recent IPO with the new EUR 15m gives the company a “war chest” of EUR 25m dedicated to development, including M&A.

Dedem is in a “strong acquisition tone,” the CEO continued, although he indicated that the debt refinancing had temporarily diverted focus.

The company is pursuing a “cherry-picking” strategy, targeting numerous small operators, potentially up to 15 deals, primarily in the leisure sector, he said.

Dedem has already made recent acquisitions using its initial capital. In Italy, it acquired Wappy Livorno, Wappy Brianza, and Wappy Siracusa for EUR 3m in July.

In Spain, through its subsidiary Tecnotron, Dedem acquired Sicher Ocio y Diversión, the second-largest “kiddie rides” operator in the Spanish market, for EUR 1.5m.

Regarding geographical expansion, the future M&A focus within Europe includes Spain, the Czech Republic, and Poland, Rizzi said. This strategy is driven by the industry trend that forces smaller operators to join forces with larger industrial partners, accelerating the M&A wave in the European space market, he said.

At the time of its IPO in late July, Dedem, which generated EUR 113.5m in revenue with EUR 15.1m in EBITDA in 2024, anticipated actively scouting acquisition targets close to its core business, including those with proprietary technology.

Such acquisitions would help evolve its photo-booths into multi-functional touchpoints by enhancing data collection, analytics, and autonomous maintenance capabilities, the CEO had said.

Rizzi noted that the digital era is transforming shopping centers into destination venues with vast food courts and significant entertainment areas. Kiddie rides serve not only as entertainment but also as a marketing asset, encouraging longer dwell times and attracting family traffic, creating a fertile environment for M&A.